Katelijne Ulenaers is an internal communications expert at the Communications and Marketing Department of Hasselt University in Belgium. In this role, she is responsible for corporate communications towards students and staff on the strategic and executive levels. Furthermore, she also has a role as an internal comms advisor.
She started her career as a radio journalist for the Flemish public broadcast corporation (VRT). Thereafter she took a position as head of the department of social and cultural policy within the public service, while she kept making freelance radio reports.
This EMP aims to establish a baseline measurement and develop a comprehensive toolbox for internal communications. In previous EMPs focused on internal communications, we created a theoretical framework for communication within higher education teams and emphasized the importance of effective change communication. Drawing insights from these projects, we acknowledged the need to define internal communication in European higher education more practically.
We observed significant diversity in how internal communications are handled within European universities and university colleges. Some institutions have dedicated teams, while others may have only one individual who does not officially hold the title of internal communications specialist. To address this, we plan to conduct a baseline measurement to map the internal communications landscape within European higher education institutions. This investigation will explore among others how teams are structured, their core responsibilities, target audiences, and the channels and means they utilize.
Based on this mapping exercise, we intend to create a toolbox that includes best practices and insights to assist internal communications professionals in their daily work within higher education teams. This toolbox will not offer a 'one size fits all' solution but will instead reflect the diversity of internal communication practices across institutions.